Cece Bechelli; Director Happy Feet Dance School

Cece Bechelli is the director of Happy Feet Dance School in Mill Valley, CA. Cece founded Happy Feet in 1978 and has enjoyed over 30 years of teaching in the Mill Valley community. Cece holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Francisco State University in Liberal Studies with a core emphasis in Fine Arts. In 2003 Cece won the Milley Award for artistic contribution to the community. Cece is a member of the Step Sisters, a Marin based rhythm tap trio, with her partners Sheri Bechelli and Patti Meagher. The Step Sisters had the honor and distinction of opening for the Smuin Ballet at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center in 2003 and for Gregory Hines at the Marin Center in March of 2000 and again at his final public performance in March of 2003. Cece was on staff at Cazadero Performing Arts Dance Camp from 2001 to 2005. She has been a guest teacher at dance studios and colleges throughout California. She has recently been asked to teach for Stanford University’s “Tap That” performing group. Cece also takes great pride and pleasure in her annual role as guest choreographer for the Mill Valley Middle School spring musical productions.            

Further Biography on Cece 

Cece is a life-long dancer. After extensive dance training in Irish, tap, jazz, ballet, modern and acrobratics, Cece fell in love with tap and became a member of the Lorna Fordyce Professional Dancers. She performed extensively with the group throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California. During these years, Cece won the title of Miss Dance of Northern California in 1979 and went on to perform and compete in a national competition in New York City.

Cece became a faculty member at the Lorna Fordyce Dance School in 1976 teaching tap, jazz, and acrobatics. In 1978 while still performing with the Lorna Fordyce Dancers, Cece opened Happy Feet Dance School in Mill Valley. Over the past 30 plus years, Cece has taught thousands of dancers in southern Marin County. Many of Cece's students continue their study of dance in college and beyond. Over the past five years, eleven Happy Feet students auditioned and were accepted into the dance department at UCLA.

Continuing with her own study of dance, Cece takes classes in New York and Los Angeles on a regular basis. Through the years, Cece has been lucky enough to study with Gregory Hines, Honi Coles, LaVaughn Robinson, Steve Condos, Harold Nicholas of the famed Nicholas Brothers, Savion Glover, Dianne Walker, Roxanne Butterfly, Harold Cromer, Arthur Duncan, Randy Skinner, Sam Weber, Mark Mendonca, Steve Zee, Barbara Duffy, Derrick Grant, Ayodelle Casel, Dormeshia Sumbrey- Edwards, Van Porter, Jason Samuels Smith, Chloe Arnold, Lynn Schwab, Lynn Dally and Linda Sohl-Ellison.  The influence of these masters, along with her teachers from her early years, have helped influence Cece’s style.

Cece has been married to Greg Bechelli, also a native San Franciscan, for thirty years.